Finding Abdu'l-Baha

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Monday, 09 January 2006 15:09

Published: Monday, 09 January 2006 15:09

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This is an audio of me discussing my search to find out who Abdu'l-Baha is. I was moved to go on this quest because I knew Abdu'l-Baha wasn't the person that some Baha'is make him out to be, by throwing his Will and Testament at other believers and accusing them of being evil people.

Many, many thanks to Marzieh Gail for writing her wonderful book Summon up Remembrance, published by George Ronald in 1987.

10-minute MP3 audio of Alison discussing her search to find out who Abdu'l-Baha is

Contentment

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Sunday, 08 January 2006 11:40

Published: Sunday, 08 January 2006 11:40

Written by Alison Marshall

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I have been rereading Baha'u'llah's City of Radiant Acquiescence. I realised that what Baha'u'llah says in that tablet showed me the way to find my inner resolution over my disenrollment. The passage below sums up part of what I was trying to say in my podcast (Musings on my Disenrollment, below).

I have found what Baha'u'llah's says here very difficult to fathom; for example: "that you might ... ascend to the station wherein honey and poison are the same, since both are decreed by the mighty, the ordainer." It wasn't until I began to grasp the concept of detachment that this passage and others like it began to make sense. And, in fact, Baha'u'llah makes it clear here that no one can be content unless they have severed themselves from all in heaven and earth.

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Musings on my disenrollment

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Friday, 06 January 2006 22:54

Published: Friday, 06 January 2006 22:54

Written by Alison Marshall

Hits: 5283

This is an audio of me explaining how I now feel about my disenrollment and the situation as it stands. I get e-mails from people about it and I find it hard to explain these things using e-mail.

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Passages quoted in this audio are:

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The Master in 'Akka

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Thursday, 05 January 2006 15:34

Published: Thursday, 05 January 2006 15:34

Written by Alison Marshall

Hits: 6279

After I put up the book review of Church and State, I realised that it would be a good idea to put up more book reviews of Kalimat Press books. Kalimat Press books continue to be available on the web site, . We can all help Tony out by writing book reviews of any Kalimat Press books we have read and continuing to buy Kalimat Press books from the web site.

I read a few Kalimat Press books in 2005. Kalimat puts out quite a few history books and I have been getting into those. Baha'u'llah tells us to read his writings morning and evening and, as a result, I have become familiar with Baha'u'llah's personality and thinking. But I realised that there was a big gap in my understanding of Abdu'l-Baha. I therefore decided to read books containing the memoirs of people who had spent a lot of time with Abdu'l-Baha.

One book in particular that stands out in this category is The Master in 'Akka by Myron H Phelps. The dustjacket tells us that Phelps was an American lawyer from New York. He was not a Baha'i but was greatly attracted to Abdu'l-Baha and visited him for one month in December 1902. The next year, he published a book called Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi. The book The Master in 'Akka reprints the first six chapters of Phelps's book.

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Getting out of the fridge

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Category: Alison Marshall's Column

Created: Saturday, 31 December 2005 20:12

Published: Saturday, 31 December 2005 20:12

Written by Alison Marshall

Hits: 5180

In this podcast, I discuss the dispiriting effect of the Baha'i administration's actions against believers it perceives to be enemies. I was prompted to record this because of the latest news that the US NSA has decided to forbid its agencies from carrying Kalimat Press books. I examine the dispiriting effect these decisions have on our hearts and the importance of not letting it cause us to give up.

Letter sent to Tony Lee at Kalimat Press on 29 December 2005:

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

We write to inform you of our decision to instruct the Bahá'í Distribution Service and all other national and local Bahá'í agencies serving our community to cease to acquire and sell any titles marketed by Kalimát Press. We have been impelled to so decide out of a serious concern that your company is increasingly offering titles that are inimical to the best interests of the Bahá'í Faith.

Yours in His service,
Robert C. Henderson
Secretary-General

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